Kvitova out; Murray, Novak cruise

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova became the fifth top 10 seed to exit the US Open in the first week when she was knocked out by Serbian world number 145 Aleksandra Krunic.

But there were no such problems for men’s top seed Novak Djokovic and eighth-seeded Andy Murray, both former champions in New York, who remained on course for a mouth-watering quarterfinal showdown.

Third seeded Kvitova lost the third round tie on Saturday 6-4, 6-4 to the pint-sized 21-year-old from Belgrade, who came through qualifying and had never won a match at a major before this year’s event. Kvitova joins second seed Simona Halep, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique 

Kerber, the sixth seed, and eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic in failing to make the fourth round.

The 24-year-old Kvitova dropped serve five times and committed 34 unforced errors against the 5ft 4in (1.63m) Krunic, who divides her time between the pro tour and studying for a university economics degree. Krunic will next face either former world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus or Russian Elena Vesnina for a quarterfinal berth.

Djokovic, the 2011 champion, brushed aside America’s Sam Querrey for the eighth time in nine meetings, with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win taking the world number one into the fourth round at a major for the 22nd consecutive time. ‘Sam is big server, very powerful. But he doesn’t move that well so I wanted to keep him moving around the court, mix up the pace and get as many returns as possible back,’ said Djokovic after an 85-minute win which was never in doubt from the time he raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set. Djokovic will next face John Isner, the last American left in the draw, if the 13th seed can beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Murray, the 2012 champion, hit 47 winners in a 6-1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov, the world 96, to book a seventh appearance in the fourth round. ‘I got off to a good start and then had a cushion when he got back into the match in the third set. I was pretty solid in the fourth set, there were long rallies. It was hard to get quick points as the court was slow,’ said 27-year-old Murray.

Also going through to the last-16 for a third successive year was Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic who beat Victor Estrella Burgos, the 34-year-old tournament debutant from the Dominican Republic, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3). He will face Japanese 10th seed Kei Nishikori who reached the fourth round for the first time since his 2008 debut with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. 

Women’s top seed Serena Williams faces her third successive American opponent in the shape of Uzbekistan-born left-hander Varvara Lepchenko. The five-time champion is looking to claim her 75th match win at the US Open. Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, faces Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic, the world number 92, who has never defeated a top-10 opponent in 10 attempts.